Thursday, December 31, 2009

From January 1, no relief allowed from divot hole or repaired divot hole

By RON MENZIESAs usual, half way through the four-year life of an edition of The Rules of Golf, the R&A has published a new Decisions Book. This contains some 30 new decisions and amended versions of further 49 revised decisions which come into effect on January 1, 2010.Many of these merit detailed consideration only by serious students of the rules, budding referees and quiz masters and require a thorough knowledge to understand their complexity. However, there is one change that will require immediate action by many club committees and the awareness of all golfers.New decision 33-8/34 now removes the authority for a committee to make a local rule “providing relief without penalty from a divot hole or a repaired divot hole (i.e. filled with sand or seed mix).”At least half the golf clubs in Scotland have such a local rule and these must be withdrawn immediately before any qualifying competitions for handicap purposes can be played.Such a local rule contravenes Rule 13-1 which states that a ball must be played as it lies and has generally not been used in professional and major amateur competitions.It is often mistakenly believed that this rule protects the golf course. If relief is given or indeed demanded from a seeded divot hole, a second divot hole is created and requires repair, leaving two seeded divots holes.If the ball is played from the original hole it may require repair but only one hole remains.

Monday, December 28, 2009

Hope you all had a lovely Christmas and that you managed to get where you wanted to be. The weather was a bit of a problem at times!

For those of us who saw Carol's draft of the above Book at the AGM I have to say that we were all very impressed indeed. Carol has been working on this for a year and has made a marvellous job of it. The first half of the book is up until 2008 and the second half is all about the 2009 Centenary Year (both in Renfrewshire and many events in Scotland). Plenty of stories and pictures and it was obvious that she had put so much hard work into it - it looked absolutely fantastic and I am sure the finished article will even look better.

The cost of the book is £20 only if pre ordered but will still be available to buy On line at £25 thereafter (plus postage and packaging)

I have noted underneath members who either do not have a computer or I do not have an e-mail address for. If you know them and are in contact, can you please pass on this message. Thanks.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

The Scottish Ladies’ Golfing Association is delighted to announce that Catriona Matthew – the first Scot to win a women’s major championship – has accepted an invitation to become a Vice President of the Association from 2010.Emma Wilson has been named as the new President, taking over from Ethel Jack, who is retiring after three years in the post.A three-time Scottish Amateur Champion and three-time Curtis Cup player, Matthew is Scotland’s most successful ever woman professional. She has won seven tournaments in an outstanding career, including the highlight of a first major at the Ricoh Women’s British Open at Royal Lytham and St Annes in August.“I was delighted to accept the post of Vice-President,” said 40-year-old Matthew. “It is always special to gain recognition in Scotland and, hopefully, I can help to generate more interest in girls’ and women’s golf. I know that programmes set up by the SLGA and Clubgolf have done a great deal over recent years to encourage more girls to take up the game and I’ll be delighted to become involved in some way.”Shona Malcolm, SLGA Chairman, warmly welcomed Matthew’s appointment. “We are delighted that Catriona has accepted, ” she commented. “Both as an amateur and professional, she has achieved so much in the game and is respected all over the world. By taking on the role, it shows her loyalty and commitment to the game in Scotland and she will be a terrific ambassador for golf.”Matthew, a mother to Katie (3) and Sophie (seven months), will mostly be playing on the US-based LPGA Tour in 2010 and also hopes to compete as often as possible on the Ladies’ European Tour.Brought up in North Berwick, Matthew began her golfing career at the age of five playing on the town’s local children’s course.Matthew will be one of 13 SLGA Vice Presidents. The others are Marigold Speir,RLCGA's Rosemary Dykes, Jean Cameron, Pat Cairns Smith, Joan Lawrence MBE, Joyce Cooper, Ethel Jack, RLCGA's Wendy Cameron, Belle Robertson MBE, Margo Bauer, Mary Greig and Nancy Chisholm MBE.

Since it is the end of 2009 I have at last managed to upload the videos that were taken at the County Centenary Dinner at the Glynhill Hotel at the start of our Centenary year. I have broken them up into sections so that you can watch them at your leisure. --- As there is about 1 hour and 15 minutes worth !!!--- However Christeen Finlayson is the star of the evening so you can laugh again !!As you will see in the video above Ruth Henderson gives the 100 years history in verse ---

If you would like to read about all the past history and all of the Centenary year then please order your copy of the Centenary Book by clicking the link at the top of this webpage.

Please note that only pre orders taken of the book will be available at the Coffee Morning in March

Friday, December 04, 2009

If your still looking for the ideal gift for that special person then why not treat them to the Gift of Golf at Playsport Golf this Christmas...

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If your not sure what voucher to buy, then value vouchers are also available – you choose the amount you wish to add from £10 and then let the lucky recipient decide how they want to spend it. Value vouchers can be spent on any Playsport Golf product AND also in our superb American Golf superstore so the choices are endless!

Tuesday, December 01, 2009

Captain Trish Brown, Junior Secretary Maureen Mitchell and Webmaster Carol Fell attended a SGU/ SLGA Seminar held at Haggs Castle Golf Club today.Among the discussion topics were the Scottish Golf Card; Central Database of Handicaps (CDH); clubgolf; Tourism; SGU Golf Central and the R&A Sustainable Golf Course Project. There was a series of short presentations from the SGU/SLGA on each of these topics, with feedback and input into the future development of our ‘Supporting Clubs’ strategy.Further to this meeting I hope to be able to put on a slideshow of the presentation.Meantime here are some links to websites to keep you up todateCLUBGOLFSCOTTISH GOLFSPORTSCOTLANDR&A

The Duke's St Andrews has become the 100th golf club to sign up for the National Golf Club Challenge.

The Challenge, recently featured on the European Tour website, will be held on the 24th and 25th July 2010 and will bring hundreds of golf clubs together on the same weekend as part of a nationwide charity golf event – with the aim of raising a million pounds for the Help for Heroes charity.

The Duke's St Andrews The Duke's is highly regarded as one of the finest heathland championship courses in the British Isles and a 'must play' course for any golfer. With a spectacular setting above St Andrews, The Duke's offers magnificent panoramic views over the surrounding countryside to the sea.

"The Kohler Company, owner of The Duke's Course and The Old Course Hotel located in the 'Home of Golf' St Andrews, is delighted to be supporting a most worthy cause, Help for Heroes, through the National Golf Club Challenge."

Debbie Taylor, Managing Director of the Old Course Hotel, Golf Resort and Spa

The Duke's style ranks alongside the great inland challenges which demand accuracy and inventive play as well as power golf and, with five separate tee positions at every hole.

The Challenge – 100 Clubs and Counting With golf clubs entering on a daily basis, the National Golf Club Challenge is on course to become the largest amateur golf event to take place in the UK.

"We are so pleased to have The Duke's St Andrews participate in the National Golf Club Challenge. Reaching 100 clubs is a significant mile-stone for the Challenge, and having such a renowned club as The Duke's sign up makes it a double celebration. Our aim of course, is to encourage hundreds more golf clubs to get involved."

Stacey Jeffries, Event Director

Ten golfers from the top six scoring clubs will be invited to play in The Grand Final. The Final, sponsored by YourGolfTravel.com, will be held over two days in October at The Belfry, four times host to the Ryder Cup.

The Help for Heroes National Golf Club Champions will win seven nights (for the winning ten golfers) at the 5 star Marriott Taba Heights Resort on the Sinai Peninsula.

If you would like to show your support by publishing an article about The National Golf Club Challenge, you may find our latest press releases useful, or simply call us on 01565 818107 / 01565 818106.

About Help for Heroes Help for Heroes was the idea of appeal chairman Bryn Parry and a group of friends and relations. They wanted to help wounded soldiers returning home from combat and came up with several fundraising ideas which led to Help for Heroes being born.

The Charity are completely non political and accept wars happen under any government, all they want to do with the help of the British public, is to assist our wounded heroes. Find out more at www.helpforheroes.org.uk.

The National Golf Club Challenge Sponsors We would like to give a big thank you to the following National Golf Club Challenge Sponsors – who have made the event possible.

Win a Trip to the Fantastic Sawgrass Golf Resort & Spa, FloridaEnter our prize draw to be in with a chance of winning a fabulous stay at The Marriott Sawgrass Resort & Spa Florida, one of the world's premier golf resorts. This is your chance to walk in the footsteps of champions on the famous fairways of the Stadium Course and stand on the tee of the most talked about hole in golf, the 17th hole at Sawgrass.

The prize includes five nights for two at the 5 star Marriott Sawgrass Resort & Spa including flights with two rounds of golf for two on the stadium course (RRP: $300 per round) and one round for two on the valley course!

Sunday, November 22, 2009

The Winter Foursomes match played yesterday over Whitecraigs Golf Course between Immediate Past Captain Christeen and Sheila Robson and previous holders June Lockhart and Roisin Black was nip and tuck. Christeen and Sheila were 1 up at the turn, but by the 15th the game was all square. As darkness descended they won the 16th but lost the 17th to go down the par 5 last hole once again all square. In pitch black conditions at 5p.m. it was a case of walking down the fairway four abreast to find the balls and, at the end of the day, it came down to the last putt!

To keep up to date with all the results Click HereThe results link is also at the top of this webpage plus you can also submit your results on the link next to it.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

SGU NEWSLETTER --- CLICK ON THIS LINK TO READ ALL ABOUT THE NOVEMBER NEWSLETTER ---2009/2010 Winter Tee Time OffersScottish Golf CardSGU 2009 National Handicap AuditSGU Golf Central- 2010 Open CompetitionsEmployment MattersSEMINARS

The 100th RLCGA AGM was held at Haggs Castle Golf Club yesterday the 4th November 2009Captain Christeen Finlayson opened the meeting by welcoming Honorary President Wendy, Honorary members, Past Captains and ladies a very warm welcome to our one hundredth annual general meeting. She was delighted to see so many members present and thanked Haggs Castle Golf Club for once again allowing us to host our AGM in their clubhouse.

The minutes of the meeting held on 5th November, 2008, had already been distributed and were taken as read

Matters Arising:There were 2 matters arising from the last minutes -----

(a) A Quaich, in memory of Kathleen McNeil was presented at the Scottish Ladies’ (close) Amateur Championship, by Miss Marigold Speir known as “the McNeil Trophy”. . It was won by Lanarkshire, with their team of 3, recording the two lowest aggregate scratch scores, from the qualifying rounds.Renfrewshire came fourth.

(b) Change of date for the Scottish county finals with regard to the request by Eileen Gibb to change the date of the Scottish county finals as it clashed with the Ryder cup this matter has now been resolved. The 2010 Ryder Cup will be held at Celtic Manor on 1st to 3rd October - Colin wasn’t too pleased!On a more serious note, we did consult the SLGA and were informed a change, would only be considered, if it was requested by a number of county captains, as they had already agreed to this date, several years ago.

TREASURER'S REPORT

Audrey Sturgess was pleased to present Renfrewhire’s accounts for 2009, her seventh and final set. She informed us of the membership, sweater and subsription details plus went on the give details about the fundraising money for the Centenery Fund.She then continued to give a detailed costings on sending the team to the County Finals and Junior Coaching.She did, however,say that we had saved on our software costs by Club Systems allowing us to share a licence with the three other West Counties and therefore quarter our costs. Although we saved money, we gave Carol Fell even more headaches than usual as it was she who was left to deal with the technology side. As always Carol, the County or in this case Counties owes you a great debt of gratitude and I have no idea where we would be without your expertise.

She then went on to finally explaining the balance sheet.

She thanked Elizabeth Simpson for once again taking the time to carry out the audit. She never seems to get any less busy as the years go by but I am going to let her know next year, once I have experienced it, if retirement is a better option! Thank you Elizabeth and I am pleased to say she has agreed to continue next year.

Finally she said "As this is my last Treasurer’s report, can I thank you all for listening to me for all these years, to all the captains and committees I have worked with, thank you all for your support. I would particularly like to thank Jean Smith, this year’s membership Secretary for collecting all the subscriptions. You have no idea just what a help it was. I apologise to Christeen and the current committee for my lack of contribution this year, but my time was not my own"

She then went on thank Audrey, for her excellent report. 2009 had been an exceptionally busy year for her -- both as our treasurer and as the Captain of Haggs Castle Golf Club. She then went on to say "Audrey kindly stayed on as treasurer for our centenary year but is now retiring after seven years in office. You have served your county well and have kept our financial affairs in meticulous order. it has been a pleasure to work with you, Audrey, and in recognition of your many years of service you will be presented, as requested by you, with a copy of our centenary book - when it is available!"

SECRETARY'S REPORT:by Morag TurnerSince our last AGM we have attracted 13 new Playing members and 3 new Junior/ Student members. This brings our membership to 249 with 208 playing members, 11 non-playing, 18 junior/student and 10 Honorary.

If anyone would like an application form for someone who you would think might like to join, I have applications forms here with me. It is also on the web-site.

I am glad to report that all the venues for 2010 have been confirmed. I have brought a few copies along with me tonight of the dates which I thought might be of interest to Greenlees Secretaries etc. If you would like to take a copy, please do. The following dates may be of interest to you:-

We have another Sunday Medal which is being held at Ralston on 11th April.

The Championship will be held at Ranfurly Castle on Wednesday 14th April until Friday 16th April. First day is an Open Day which is open to all members.

The West of Scotland Inter-County Matches (Jamboree) will be held at Kilmacolm Golf Club from Monday 14th June until Wednesday 16th June.

We had mixed weather for our competitions, the only competition which had to be re-scheduled was the Autumn Meeting. The numbers on the whole were up from last year so maybe the e-mails to remind everyone about forthcoming competitions were worth doing and I shall continue it next year. 22 couples played in the Winter Foursomes knockout competition and the numbers are the same for next year.

The Centenary Shotgun at Pollok was a great success with 40 couples playing in it. It was a great day and thoroughly enjoyed by everyone.

Mentioning e-mail, we propose to enter competitions by e-mail/web. We will be setting up the forms on the web-site and it will be very simple to do so do not worry about it. The Autumn Meeting worked really well so those who entered for the res-scheduled Meeting will realise how easy it was to enter. You are being asked on your subscription notice if you would like to enter by e-mail or the competition slips. Those who do not want to enter by e-mail will still be sent the competition slips with their Fixture Card. Those who want the e-mail route will obviously NOT be sent the competition slips. We are confident that this work well but please bear with us initially until we have things perfected.

JUNIOR SECRETARY'S REPORT by Maureen Mitchell

The decision was made at the beginning of the year to form a Sub Committee to assist me in the post of Junior Secretary. This Sub Committee consisted of Maureen Cook, Denise Cowan, Morag Little and myself. Maureen agreed to organise the Kennedy Salver and Denise was in charge of aspects of Coaching. This procedure worked reasonably well and I would like to thank both ladies for all their assistance.

We held a meeting for Club Junior contacts at the beginning of March. Not many turned up but we felt it was a fruitful ‘get together’The season began with 3 coaching sessions at Mearns Castle Golf Academy under the tuition of Karyn Burns. Fourteen girls attended the first session but numbers fell for the 2nd and 3rd session.

Sixteen enthusiastic young golfers turned up for the ‘Fun Day’ organised at the end of April which the girls thoroughly enjoyed despite the cold weather. Twelve girls from the main squad were invited to play the 9 hole course at Mearns at the end of May and, from that group, 7 girls were chosen to represent the County in the Kennedy Salver. Our team consisted of Natasha Qayam, Linsey Stevenson, Lesley Cosh, Samantha Cowan, Saorcha Warren, Corrine Kyle and reserve was Alexandra Qayam. The girls performed very well in terribly wet conditions and finished runners up to Ayrshire. Altogether, 32 girls were involved in the Coaching sessions.

As part of the SLGA Training Programme, we were invited to send 3 girls under 16 years of age to a Talent Identification Day at the Brucefield Centre, Bannockburn, in August. Unfortunately, none of the girls was selected. Hopefully, the new coaching sessions being set up for next year with Lesley Mackay at Playsport Golf will improve this situation. Remember, we always like to hear about any emerging talent within your Club.

The Campbell Clock took place on another wet day on the 6th September. Nine girls competed in the 18 hole Stableford Competition with Mairi Gray from Williamwood the winner and Rachel Green (Eastwood) a close Runner Up. Laura Johnston, again from Williamwood, won the 8 hole event with Sarah Taylor (Whitecraigs), Emma McMillan ( Erskine) and Kirsty Forgie (Williamwood) sharing 2nd place. Sixteen enthusiastic young golfers played the 6 hole Par 3 course despite the heavy rain – this was won by Heather Fleming from Elderslie with Katie McLaren (Ranfurly Castle) the Runner Up. This event requires a large number of volunteer assistants and I would like to thank everyone who helped for all the time and commitment you gave to help run this competition for our junior players.

The Girls’ Championship Final was finally played at Old Ranfurly last Sunday, again in terrible wind and rain. Eilidh Briggs (Kilmacolm) beat Alyson McKechin (Elderslie) by 2/1 in a sporting ding – dong match.

Both of these young ladies have had a very successful golfing season. Alyson played in the Scottish Schoolgirls’ team, the Girls’ Home International team, our own County team and helped the "West Girls" Team beat the East girls at Pollok GC. Well done,Alyson.

Eilidh’s list is even longer –

* Defended her West of Scotland’s Girls Championship title beating Mairi McKay in the delayed Final at Troon* Played for the "Scottish Schoolgirls" team as well as the Scottish Counties Final team* Was a part of the Girls Home International team which finished Runners Up to England* Won the Scottish Ladies Foursomes at Forfar partnered with her sister Megan.* Won best Scratch Under 18 award at the Scottish Girls Strokeplay event* Reached the quarter Finals of the Scottish Under 18 Matchplay Championship at Lanark* Won the West of Scotland Girls’ Medal over Cawder, Keir courseand, finally, lost to Megan in the semi Final of our own County Championship at Whitecraigs.Quite an impressive list, Eilidh !

Eilidh and Alyson are part of the National Performance Squad B and Linsey Stevenson has been invited to join the Scottish Golf Academy Programme which is being run in conjunction with the SGU. A team made up of Eilidh, Alyson and Natasha Qayam won the new Junior County Salver presented by the West of Scotland Association in May at Prestwick Golf Club.

The success of our County Player Development Programme has to be judged on a National basis.The SLGA produce a Girls’ Order of Merit each year and our girls feature prominently in the list of 43 players – Natasha is in 30th place, Linsey in 15th , Alyson is 9th and Eilidh is right at the top in 1st spot - a wonderful achievement !

Quite a number of our Junior players have won their Club Championships and also played in the West of Scotland Greenlees matches as some of us know to our cost ! In fact, Natasha won two Club Championships – one at Ranfurly Castle and one at Crail. Not to be outdone by her sister, Alexandra won the Crail Bronze Championship. A large number have had no problem reducing their handicaps despite the very wet summer – fine examples to the rest of us ! For those of you involved in Junior golf, the Kennedy Salver is being played next year at Cawder on Monday, 21st June 2010 for the low handicap girls and we have been granted the use of the courses at Whitecraigs on Sunday, 5th September.

My year as Junior Convenor has been a considerable learning curve and working on the principle that I can put my new found knowledge to good use, I have volunteered to stay on for another year!

Captain Christeen thanked Maureen for her report and then went on to congratulate Eilidh and Alyson for being part of the girls’ Home International team at Fairhaven and "I know Eilidh is thrilled to be top of the SLGA girls order of merit."

"I have taken great pride in watching the achievements of all our younger players. many of them will be noteable in the future and I look forward to following their golfing careers."

She then went on to thank our results secretary,Freda Tuck. Renfrewshire is very fortunate to have such a enthusiastic and efficient Results Secretary . "In fact, anything, you ask Freda to do, is done so willingly and thoroughly, with a big smile. She has contributed much in my term of office."

Special mention was also given membership Secretary, Jean Smith for carrying out her duties dilligently and she had no doubt she would continue to do so in the future.

CAPTAINS REPORT

This year, 2009, has been an exceptional year - we have not only celebrated our Centenary; we qualified for the Scottish County Finals, back to back, for the first time since 1957 when we qualified every year till 1961. (yes, 1961 was 48 years ago!). however, the oustanding highlight of our year, without a doubt, is Megan Briggs, becoming the Scottish Champion. Vice Captain, Trish, and I were very proud to be at Southerness in May to witness Megan beating Louise Kenny of Pitreavie by 4/3 and thus becoming the 95th scottish champion. It is the first time the trophy has been brought back to Renfrewshire since 1989 when Shirley Huggan (nee Lawson) of Eastwood successfully defended the trophy at Lossiemouth. Renfrewshire can now boast 5 Scottish Champions.

Megan has had many accolades in 2009. As well as being Scottish Champion, she became our County Champion for the fourth year in a row; she represented Renfrewshire in the county team, as always, with great distinction .

She was also runner-up for the second year in a row in the Scottish Universities Women’s Championship; she and sister, Eilidh, won, the Scottish Ladies’ Foursomes.

She won her third full cap to play in the Ladies’ Home Internationals at Irvine Golf club where Scotland, after a nail biting finish, came runners-up to Wales by half a point Megan, congratulations and well done for all your achievements past and present. All this, not even 21 , and studying to be a lawyer too! fantastic!

"Megan, you bring Renfrewshire to the forefront of amateur golf in Scotland, and in recognition of all your achievements, and of the pride, and esteem, in which we hold you, in accordance with precedence and tradition, on behalf of the committee, it gives me the greatest of pleasure, to propose, that you be offered Honorary Membership of the Renfrewshire Ladies County Golf Association."

She then asked Megan to come forward and accept the Honorary Membership scroll and, Megan then thanked the County and its members for receiving this wonderful award.

In January Megan attended the SLGA warm weather training in Spain and then in March, Megan and Alyson McKechin, attended an army training commando day as part of the SLGA winter training programme. half way through the day, with an army sergeant shouting down their ears and up to their necks in mud, they didn’t feel it had been such a wise move, but, on completion, the feeling of elation was immeasurable.

Renfrewshire’s winter training programme was bit more mundane - we had a curling evening at Braehead. It was great fun and the girls showed their versatility for all sports. I am relieved to report there were no broken bones - despite some spectacular falls! In February our winter programme began and we met almost every second Sunday, weather permitting, at the Mearns Golf Academy till the end of march.This year, juniors, Linsey Stevenson and Nicky Wilson (both from Whitecraigs) and Lesley Cosh (Cowglen) were invited to join the senior team and slotted in well.

Our association is very grateful to the Mearns Castle Golf Academy, cuppled with Karyn Burns, for their sponsorship and valued support over the past seven years.

I would also like to take this opportunity to record our thanks to Glenmuir for their continued support and to our sweater girl, Sally Smyth, who has worked closely with them looking after all our sartorial needs.

The 2008/9 the Winter Foursomes final was played at Cathcart Castle golf club. after a hard fought battle, our secretary, Morag, and her partner, Beatrice Orr, gained victory at the 19th hole, beating last year’s holders, Sheila Gray and Mary Hardie.

The Challenge Rose Bowl final was played at Whitecraigs Golf Club. Gillian McGinlay and Anita McMillan played. Excellent golf but after twelve holes Gillian had played to two over par so it was very difficult for Anita to catch up and Gillian went on to win the trophy for the fifth time.

In April the Championship was played at Whitecraigs Golf Club on three bitterly cold, but dry, days. We were treatdt o a great display of excellent match-play in the semi finals with Clare-Marie Carlton in exceptional form beating 10 times winner, Donna Jackson. In the other semi-final, the Briggs sisters, once again, battled for the final place, with Megan winning on the 18th green. Unfortunately, Clare-Marie just couldn’t find the excellent form she had exhibited in the morning and Megan retained the trophy for her fourth year in a row.

Tracy Masterton, in her first year in the county, won the Peggy Clark Trophy.

On another bitterly cold day in may, at Prestwick Golf Club, 12 Renfrewshire ladies competed in the West of Scotland championship. Clare-Marie came third, and Eilidh was one stroke behind, winning the handicap prize.

Lanarkshire won the senior county team event and Renfrewshire’s junior team of Eilidh Briggs, Alyson McKechin and Natasha Qayum, won the inaugural junior silver salver. This salver was presented by the West of Scotland Captains’ committee to encourage younger players to participate.

Thankfully, later that month, in beautiful weather, Renfrewshire hosted the West of Scotland, Inter-County Foursomes, at Pollok Golf Club. Sadly, Renfrewshire didnot feature prominently in the scratch section. In the handicap section, Morag Turner and Beatrice Orr were second and Rosemary Reedie and Nancy MacGadie were third.

Everyone, enjoyed playing the course and visiting the gentlemen’s only club where we were treated most warmly.

As I said earlier, the Scottish Ladies’ (Close) Championship was played over Southerness in very cold and blustery conditions. 9 Renfrewshire ladies competed and Clare-Marie reached the second round of the match play stages. Alyson McKechin also qualified but had to rush home to sit her standard grade exams! Eilidh, Gillian McGinlay and Carol Whyte all qualified for the Clark Rose Bowl with Jennifer Jenkins reaching the semi finals. Unfortunately, Eilidh, also had to return home to sit her exams.

At the County Open Meeting at Dullater, Anabel Kane of Kilmacolm managed to overcome the wet and dreich conditions and win the silver division handicap trophy.

At the Commonwealth Spoons at Longniddry five couples represented Renfrewshire. The infamous combination of Turner and Orr led the Renfrewshire field, four shots behind the winners.

the LGU Challenge Bowls took place in June at Stirling Golf Club. Clare-Marie not only recorded the best scratch sore of the day with a 75 to win the Wallace Williamson Bowl, but also had the best net score of 73 to win the Silver Division Challenge Bowl. In september she went on to win the Mackie Rosebowl at Gullane and was a reserve for the home international matches at Irvine Golf Club. Earlier in the year Clare-Marie also qualified for the final round of the Helen Holm.

In June, everthing was rosy - the sun was shining at Strathaven. Our team had a resounding victory at the West Division, Inter-County matches, (the Jamboree) and qualified for the scottish county finals for the 14th time and, back to back, for the first time since 1956 when we qualified every year till 1961! Renfrewshire was represented by Eilidh Briggs, Megan Briggs, Clare-Marie Carlton, Alyson McKechin, Donna Jackson, Gillian Kyle, Liz Stewart and Carol Whyte.

In September, off we went to Baberton, hoping we would go one step further than we had last year, and bring back the trophy to the west for the 9th time. Sadly, and to the disappointment of the team, it was not to be. The opposition was very experienced and strong but each year we gain just that little more experience. Northern Counties won after a count-back with Midlothian.

I have been very proud and very privileged to be associated with the team and the training squads. We have had great fun over the years and I greatly admire the high standard they have attained due to dedication and tenacity. I wish them to remember that it is no mean feat to be the third best county team in Scotland. I will miss you all.

Once again, our grateful thanks go to our caddy mistresses, Mamie Robin and Vice Captain, Trish, and to our loyal band of caddies and supporters. It does lift the team’s spirits to see Renfrewshire Pink dotted along the fairways.

On the administrative side, Beth Paterson is in her second year on the SLGA board of directors as director of performance.

My congratulations also goes to all those who were successful in their club championships and outside competitons. My apologies, there are too many to mention individually.

Despite the poor weather of 2009 it has been gratifying to see more members participating and supporting our county events and I hope this trend will continue.

Before I close, I would like to say a special thank you to all my committee members - past and present. My two years would not have been so enjoyable without you - I have really appreciated all your enthusiastic hard work, support and friendship. Kay Black, Maureen Cook and Maimie Robin retire by rotation this year and they have all been a joy to work with.

Our President, Wendy, has completed her five years and also retires from office at this time. Wendy, you have been an excellent president, attending many functions, meetings and events travelling far to support Renfrewshire. You have also been very approachable offering wise guidance and assurance. As a momenta of your term of office I look forward to presenting you with a copy of our centenary book - when it is available!

Christeen then followed her report with a Centenary Report.

We have now reached the end of our Centenary celebrations. It has been a wonderful year with many happy memories. I have been blessed with a marvellous centenary committee and I would like to pay tribute to them -President Wendy, Vice Captain Trish, immediate Past Captain Beth, Secretary Morag and Treasurer Audrey. we could not have done without the computer and presentation skills for our centenary dinner and shotgun by Freda Tuck and, of course, special mention must go to Carol Fell for recording our special year. I am also very grateful to the committees of 2008 and 2009.Our Centenary celebrations got off to a wonderful start with 114 ladies, representing 20 of our 23 clubs in Renfrewshire, attending our Centenary Dinner. This was a marvellous evening of fun, friendship and history and most of us had the opportunity to rub shoulders with the greatest golfers Renfrewshire has ever produced. The Glynhill looked after us exceptionally well and our guest speaker, Linda Ormiston, O.B.E, wrote to say it was one of the best dinners she had attended!

In March, 16 members from each of the 15 counties in scotland attended a SLGA lunch in Perth and celebrated 100 years of county golf in scotland.

I also had the pleasure of representing you at the Ayrshire, Dunbartonshire & Argyll and Lanarkshire Centenary dinners.

The sun shone for our Centenary Shotgun Greensomes at Pollok Golf Club and we had a marvellous day. 80 ladies enjoyed playing the course which was in excellentcondition considering the amount of rain that had recently fallen. Once again, the staff looked after us well and made us feel most welcome.

We also appreciated it that the Captain of Pollok , Andrew Sturgess, our treasurer’s husband, took the time to come along, and present the prizes for this unique occasion. Mo Neilson and Elspeth Hanlon were our centenary winners.

Greater details and many photographs of all these events,and others, will be available in our centenary book. I thoroughly recommend you have a look at the draft copy and I am sure you will find it most interesting and informative. The book will be launched in the new year. but, more about that from our new captain later.

As we still have centenary funds, the committee proposes to purchase a silver quaich, which will be presented in 2010 as a permanent momento of our centenary year.

I hope you agree that we can look back on our centenary year and say “yes, it was a year of making golf history, nourishing friendship and having fun”!

In closing, Captain Christeen said, as she had mentioned at the begining of her Report, 2009 had been an incredible year and she was going to end her report by making it even more exceptional. The committee appreciated that it was almost unheard of, to offer Honorary Membership, twice in one year, but the committee members had considered this very carefully and had unanimously agreed, that there was one other person worthy of recognition as stated in the Minute Book in 1987 "Honorary Membership be bestowed for outstanding service to the County".

This person initiated and set up our website in 2003 - at this stage there was a rush of applause and Carol Fell suddenly burst from her seat to say a few words! To the hilarity of the meeting she was quickly reprimanded and told to continue sitting until the Captain had finished! This person had initiated and set up our website in 2003 and, since then , had been unfailing in covering events, near and far, with her camera and reports. Renfrewshire's website was the envy of all other counties and associations and had been visited no less than aproximately 200,000 times including archives from the original site! At that time she had also instigated the setting up of Renfrewshire's handicap computer system and to this day she will worked closely with those on the committee. On top of this, the committee knew they could always call on her at any time for assistance.With all this, and taking into account the colossal amount of work she had done painstakingly researching and preparing the production of our Centenary Book, the 2009 committee unanimously agreed that Carol Fell justified Honorary Membership. This was met with warm approval from the meeting and it gave Captain Christeen the greatest of pleasure to congratulate Carol on becoming an Honorary Member of the R.L.C.G.A.Freda Tuck was on hand to take a video of Carol, by this time overwhelmed and stuck for words, accepting her scroll. It didn't take long for Carol to announce that this had been a well-kept secret and that she was greatly honoured and pleasantly shocked to receive such a wonderful honour.The Captain finished by saying she could think of no other more pleasant way for her to start and finish her report.I would FINALLY just like to say it has been a huge honour to have been your Centenary Captain. I have thoroughly enjoyed myself and I have savoured the many experiences. I hope, like me, you have many happy memories.

Well, it is now time for me to retire. I have had an incredible journey and I thank all the captains that have gone before me for passing on their knowledge and inspiration. Ladies, many thanks to you, the members, for all your support and friendship over the past two years.It now gives me the greatest of pleasure to hand over office to my vice captain Trish. Trish will have a very busy year next year - as most of you know, her husband, Colin, is captain of the R & A, which is a back handed compliment for renfrewshire. Trish, I know you will have an excellent vice captain and committee who will be proud to support you in every way, as I will be.

You have been a most supportive and helpful vice captain and I known your warm, capable and relaxed manner (plus connections!) will be an asset to our county. I wish you all the best for a most enjoyable term as captain.Jean Smith has agreed to continue as our membership secretary.Results Secretary - Freda Tuckcaddy mistress - Sally SmythGillian Kyle, although not on the committee, will continue to act as our child protection officer.

After pinning on the Captain's Badge on to our new Captain Trish Brown then gave her opening speech:CHRISTEEN.You have given so much to Renfrewshire….on committee for a 3 year stint in the 90s then secretary for 5 years, vice captain for 2 then captain for last 2 years but not getting away with that …1 more year as past captain!Think we have worked well together and I have learned such a lot from her. She is meticulous in her preparation for every event be it a ctte meeting, championship or jamboree.If you were to look at her notes from a meeting, they are all over the place but that very same evening she will have sent you an email with all the salient points. I have to say she can get quite excited! -- (Recall BONNYTON !!)She can also talk…..quite a lot which reminds me of the day she and I went down to Dumfries to have a look for prizes for the centenary. --- Trish then told us all a few "funny moments"

Anyway we could not have had a better person to Captain Renfrewshire in the Centenary year. All her ideas for celebrating it and her efforts at fund raising were excellent. You have my permission to run a mile if she comes anywhere near you with a recipe book again. Mind you, I have sold so many to my friends and there is not anyone who has not enjoyed the training squad chicken, boeuff a l’orange and chicken with gouda and bacon to name but a few. But ladies, who will ever forget that wonderful Centenary dinner and the person who stole the show and then our fantastic Centenary Golf Day at Pollock. We all cannot thank you enough for being such a great captain.Christeen we are all going to miss you and frankly we are all rather worried that you won’t know what to do so-- here is something to keep you busy this autumn and we will be delighted to present you with one of the Centenary Books !! Please thank Sandy for answering the phone so often and for his patient forebearance . We hope he is making good progress with his new bionic part and we hope you and he will be able to spend a bit more time together. Please don’t go too far away and please check your emails every day because I suspect I will be needing your help and advice quite often.

Trish then presented the Past Captain’s badge to Christeen

She then went on ----- "Thank you all so much for allowing me to become your Captain. It is a great honour and I hope I can keep up the standard of my predecessors. It will be different…..it may be a bit quieter…..it may not be as well organised (remember I was only a humble PE teacher with no secretarial skills)…. I won’t have my nails done as well as Christeen….it probably won’t be as much fun……but I hope we will still enjoy our golf as much."

"I have a busy year ahead and I hope you will forgive me if I cannot be at everything but that is why I have a committee so ---

"It gives me great pleasure to propose Maureen Woodhead as the new Vice Captain. Maureen is a member and past captain of Gourock golf club and has been champion there 16 times. She was on their committee for 13 years and was very involved in the new handicapping system. She plays off a HANDICAP of 6 and was previously and is currently the Scottish and British Ladies Civil Service Golf Champion. She has of course played in the Renfrewshire team many times and I know she will be able to give me a lot of advice especially regarding team selection and the order in which we play our girls…..for those that don’t know – these decisions sometimes have to be done in a desperate rush between morning matches finishing and afternoon play beginning.She was then seconded by Past Captain Christeen FinlaysonTrish welcomed Maureen-to the top table and pinned on the Vice Captain's badgeMaureen then said a few words to the audience.Christeen has already intimated that Wendy is retiring from the committee as Hon. President and we are very sorry to lose you Wendy but I have great pleasure in proposing Eileen Gibb as our new Honorary President. Eileen has been involved in Renfrewshire golf for many years in many capacities. She has won the county championship twice, she has played for the county several times and she was county captain from 1985-1987. She has been a Scottish selector and not only that she was the captain of the Scottish Girls team when they won the Home Internationals. I would like to ask Wendy to present Eileen with her President’s badgeWendy then gave her thanks followed by Eileen who was delighted to become our new President.Trish then said she was delighted to reappoint our secretary,Morag Turner for her 3rd year in office also Maureen Mitchell as Junior Secretary for her 2nd year…… I hope you Morag will agree it does get a little easier!Audrey Sturgess has been a great treasurer despite doing a huge job here at Haggs but delighted to propose Jan McNab as our new Hon Treasurer. Jan (pictured right) is a member of Lochwinnoch and Ranfurly Castle and is a qualified CA. Seconder--Sheila ShawI am greatly relieved that Freda Tuck our ultra efficient results secy and Jean Smith our membership secy are remaining on committee.Morag Little ,Sally Smyth, Audrey Barclay and June Lockhart all remain on committee.

Since there have been no other nominations I would like to propose Sheila Robson (below right)of Whitecraigs, Elizabeth Hale (below left) of Caldwell and Patricia Davidson of Erskine to serve on the committee for the next 3 years and they are delighted to accept --- I look forward to working with you all.

The meeting then followed on with a discussion to raise the handicap limit to 24 for entry into the County. The resolution was passed.

Over the past few years Renfrewshire has been fortunate to receive sponsorship from Mearns Castle Golf Academy and our squad have had coaching from professional golfer Karyn Burns . We are very grateful for this but we have taken a difficult step and moved to the brand new Playsport centre at East Kilbride where our members will have the opportunity to make use of the super new facilities at reduced fees and PGA Professional Lesley Mackay will undertake our coaching. As well as working at Playsport, Lesley also coaches the scholarship students at Stirling University and she is very enthusiastic about taking on our young squad (and some not so young!) and who knows maybe we can qualify again for the County Finals and get our hands on that nice new trophy!

As a promotional exercise for 2010 members will receive 25% extra when they buy a range card for £10.

Fixtures 2010 (get your diaries out!)Which brings me on to the inter county matches . Renfrewshire is the host for the West Inter County Jamboree next year and we will be playing this at my own club –Kilmacolm—from14th to 16th June. We are so grateful to all of you who offer to caddy and I do hope that we can count on your support again next June at Kilmacolm. Please let Sally Smyth, our caddy mistress, know if you are willing to help. We would also be very pleased to see as many supporters as possible and there is no excuse since we will be on home territory! I can guarantee that you will see fantastic golf and you will be inspired!

The Junior equivalent of the jamboree is the Kennedy Salver and this will be played at Cawdor on 21st June. We do not require caddies for this but we would be grateful for your support.I am not sure about the players, but it gives your captain and her vice captain great heart to see loads of white shirts,navy sweaters,or raspberry tops coming out to support so please do try!

The West Championship will be on 2nd May at Cardross and the Inter County Foursomes will be at Ballochmyle on 3rd JuneThe County Finals will be played at Bothwell Castle from 17th -19th September

The Scottish Championship will be played next year at Craigielaw in East Lothian from 18th-22nd May when Megan will be defending her title. She will also be defending her Renfrewshire Championship title from 14th to 16th April at Ranfurly Castle. The first day is open to all county players and then the 1st 16 gross qualifiers will play knock out over the next 2 days.

Centenary QuaichAfter the very successful Centenary day at Pollock and because the 4somes competitions seem to be much more popular than the singles competitions, we intend to purchase a Silver Quaich to commemorate the Centenary. This will be played instead of the autumn meeting in the form of a Greensomes Stableford and you will be able to enter with or without a partner. Next year this will be played at Elderslie on 1st September

Centenary BookOur wonderful web master Carol Fell has been beavering away collecting newspaper clippings, stories and photographs to put in our Centenary book which we would like to launch at a “get together” before the golfing season starts. We propose to hold a coffee morning here at Haggs Castle on Wednesday3rd March 2010 at 10.30am to launch the book and celebrate the start of a brand new century of Renfrewshire County Golf. We will request a donation of £1 to cover the coffee and shortbread and Carol will be doing a book signing! You can have a peek at the draft of the book tonight and sign the pre-order form and we should have the book for you in March. Hopefully the Centenary book will cost in the region of £20 but obviously this will depend on the numbers ordered. I am sure you will enjoy our book …according to Carol at least half of it will be covering the events in this our centenary year.

Some of the Prizewinners

The Presentation of Prizes then took place with Past President Wendy presenting the prizesTrish Congratulatated all our prize winners and said it was great to see so many of you here to collect your prizes this evening and Wendy was presented with flowers arranged by Maureen Mitchell of Old Ranfurly! with our thanks.She then wished us all a successful golfing year, hopefully dryer and sunnier than this year, and a safe journey home.She then declared the meeting closed and Donna Jackson finished off the evening by giving the vote of thanks. This was followed by coffee and chat.

DATE OF NEXT MEETING: THE NEXT ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING WILL BE HELD AT HAGGS CASTLE GOLF CLUB ON WEDNESDAY, 3RD NOVEMBER, 2010, AT 7.30P.M.

Tuesday, November 03, 2009

The Annual General Meeting of the Renfrewshire Ladies’ County Golf Association, to which all members are invited, will take place at Haggs Castle Golf Club on Wednesday, 4th November, 2009, at 7.30p.m. Copies of the Minutes of the 2008 AGM have been already distributed.

As this is the end of our Centenary Year I do hope you will come along. It has been wonderful to see so many of you supporting our events and it would be great to have a large turn-out for our 100th AGM.

Monday, November 02, 2009

Renfrewshire's Eilidh Briggs, (Kilmacolm) has won the Scottish Ladies Golfing Association girls' order of merit. She totalled 2,285pt, winning by over 500pt from Rachael Watton (Mortonhall) with Lesley Atkins (Minto) third with 1300. Gabrielle MacDonald (Craigielaw) was fourth with 1120.Alyson McKechin (Elderslie) was in the top 10 Leading final points totals

Sunday, November 01, 2009

The Scottish junior champion of champions' golf tournament at The Duke's course, St Andrews today was abandoned after 1hr 20min play today because persistent rain had flooded the greens.Scottish Golf Union tournament director Euan Mordaunt is hoping the reschedule the 18-hole tournament for leading boys and girls for the spring of 2010.Renfrewshire's Alyson McKechin was playing in it. Eilidh Briggs was unable to play due to playing for her County at Netball !! -- Another hidden talent

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

The 2009 Greenlees Lunch and presentation took place today at The Ladies Golf Club Troon. Milngavie were this years winners.RLCGA Past Captain Aileen Wilson (Haggs Castle) accepted the 3rd Division Winning Trophy.To read the full report go to the West of Scotland Website

Sunday, October 25, 2009

The County Junior Championship has finally been completed with Eilidh Briggs (Kilmacolm) winning the Trophy for the 4th time.

Eilidh and Natasha Qayum (Ranfurly Castle) braved the elements at Kilmacolm GC on Sunday morning at 9am in one of the semi-final matches and played their game in extremely wet and windy conditions. The other semi-final had been played previously between Alyson McKechin (Elderslie) and Linsey Stevenson (Whitecraigs and Elie and Earlsferry) with Alyson the winner. Eilidh triumphed at Kimacolm then the two girls rushed over to Old Ranfurly GC so that Alison and Eilidh could play the Final, with the beaten semi-finalists acting as caddies.

Weather conditions were atrocious and the small group of spectators and the players soon became extremely wet. Vice Captain, Trish, was the only sensible person as she wore her ‘wellies’! Photographer Carol found the cows more attractive to photograph at the 9th hole than the spectators who by this time looked extremely bedraggled.

However, despite the conditions, the golf was very good. Eilidh won the 1st hole, Alyson the 2nd and the game continued in this ding dong manner with only one hole halved in the first 13 holes. Eilidh finally triumphed at the 17th hole winning 2 and 1 in a very sporting contest played between two fine young golfers.

Thanks go to Maureen Mitchell (Junior Convenor) for the report and to Marilyn Muir (Club Captain of the Old Course Ranfurly) for the club's support and kind hospitality

Click on the small thumbnail below to see the gist of the game ! -- Apologies for some of the photos but the rain was a problem on the lens !!

Ladies born or
living in what is defined by the Scottish Ladies Golfing Association as Renfrewshire County are
eligible for membership of the
Association, as are members
ofGolf Clubs situated in Renfrewshireand affiliated to the
ScottishGolf'

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